Vermillion
by Thestormwarrior
Summary: How could such a noble warrior become a monster? It all starts with a broken heart. Next comes revenge...


**The prequel to Unspoken Shadows**

**Warning- may contain spoilers for Unspoken Shadows**

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><p>The Place of No Stars, The Dark Forest…<p>

The name is chilling and whispers secrets better left unsaid. Here is where nightmares reside. Some are simple, cold blooded killers with sharp fangs ready to sink into an unsuspecting cat's throat. Others are more complex, with sharp minds and even sharper claws. As time passes, some nightmares fade into the shadows but others still burn in the minds of the living. Mapleshade fades with each passing day while Tigerstar and some others still are as clear as the day they arrived. However, what all Dark Forest cats have in common is a deadly desire for revenge.

Some take it to extremes while others let it dwell in their minds. One lesser known villain falls into all of these categories. She's called Brokenheart for a love lost many seasons ago. No, it's not at all what you think; she was the one who killed him. It all started when she fell in love with him- Swiftstorm. He was a black and white tom with brilliant emerald green eyes. It was a romance that seemed perfect, like nothing could tear them apart. That's where they were wrong. Things went downhill after Brokenheart- Silverheart at the time, lost their unborn kittens. Swiftstorm had said that it was okay at the time when, in fact, he was enraged.

The next step towards the destruction of their romance was when Birdsong entered the picture. She was white with gray spots and had eyes that sparkled like the stars. She was Silverheart's best friend. Swiftstorm slowly grew feelings for Birdsong and decided to become mates with her instead. So one night when the moon was nothing more than a claw in the sky, Swiftstorm asked Silverheart to meet him in the forest. Of course Silverheart agreed as she wondered what could be so important that they had to be alone to talk about it. He wanted to let her down lightly as he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Of course, things never work out the way they are planned.

When those fateful words _'I don't love you anymore'_ passed Swiftstorm's lips, Silverheart felt as if her heart was just torn apart. Noticing her confused and hurt expression, Swiftstorm tried to reconcile her by saying they could still be friends. She glared at him with her dark reddish amber eyes and growled

"_If I can't have you, then no one can."_

In a blink of an eye, Silverheart leapt at his throat. Her claws easily sliced through the soft skin and ripped open his wind pipe. Blood gushed out of the large wound and Silverheart just watched, overcome with the dark desire for revenge. Swiftstorm coughed and sputtered, forcing himself to say the simple words of-

"_Silverheart- why?" _

As the tom struggled to his paws, Silverheart raked her claws through his eyes. She snarled

"_My name isn't Silverheart anymore- it's Brokenheart."_

Swiftstorm looked up at her with pleading eyes. Each moment was a struggle to breath; he was fighting to stay alive. _"Please- Brokenheart….. forgive me…"_

A cruel smile played on her lips as she slowly drew a claw across his cheek. _"I don't think so…"_

He whimpered softly and then went limp. Bright crimson blood covered the ground around him, a sad reminder of what once was love. Brokenheart chuckled to herself as she padded around him, her tail trailing in the blood. She softly sung-

"_This is what I thought- I thought you'd need me. This is what I thought- so think me naïve. I promised you a heart, you promised to keep…"_

Brokenheart was cut off by Birdsong walking into the clearing, freaking out when she saw Swiftstorm's dead body. Her yellow-green eyes filled with tears as she turned to Brokenheart, not noticing her friend's cold expression.

"_Swiftstorm! Silverheart what happened?"_

"_You my friend, must pay the price of your betrayal…" _Brokenheart hissed as she bared her teeth

Birdsong whimpered as she backed up to a tree, her body shaking in fear. _"Huh? What are you talking about?"_

Brokenheart let a fierce battle cry and lunged. She tore into Birdsong, moons of anger and suffering fueling her attacks. Blood sprayed everywhere making quite a mess. When that was all done and over with ,Brokenheart chuckled, licking blood off her muzzle. However, the raging inferno inside of her wasn't satisfied. It needed more blood, it needed the pain of others, and it needed death. She was no longer the loyal warrior she wanted to be, she had turned herself into a monster. Two murders turned into three and soon, everyone in the clans was in danger. Brokenheart ruled over all the clans for several moons until several brave heroes put an end to her evil reign. She wandered the Dark Forest wondering when she'll be able to exact her revenge.

In the seasons that followed her exile to the Dark Forest, she searched in vain for a cat that might be able to continue her legacy. A suitable match wasn't ever found, until today that is….

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><p>Brokenheart let out what sounded like a cross between a growl and a sigh. "This is pathetic. These clan cats are like kittens- weak. The cats of my day would have eaten them as if they were prey." A faint smile crossed her face. "Well if these four clans have nothing to offer, why don't I look for cats with clan origins?"<p>

She jumped down neatly from the branch she was watching Thunderclan from. There was one or two cats there that could be of use but convincing them would be impossible. One of them was Brambleclaw, an extremely loyal tom and the medicine cat apprentice Hawkwing. Brokenheart knew that Hawkwing was actually the reincarnation of Hawkfrost, that made things that much harder. Hawkfrost was actually more of a Starclan cat nowadays, he would never agree to Brokenheart's plan.

The calico crossed Windclan's border, the last one she had to walk past. As with the other clans, one or two cats had potential to be in Brokenheart's plan but at least one flaw stood out. The leader of Windclan, Diamondstar, hated bloodshed. Firestar of Thunderclan was getting older and he was a tiny bit insane. As for Owlstar of Shadowclan, Brokenheart just hated Shadowclan. The Riverclan cats wouldn't agree to her plan either, not like she wanted those fish eaters to help anyways. Skyclan had potential but most of the cats there were not of direct clan origin.

Brokenheart growled again in annoyance. Seasons of waiting never made her patient. Just as soon as she was about to call it a day, there was a slight whistle of brush being moved in the air. Even though she knew she couldn't be seen, she ducked into the thick undergrowth at the forest edge that bordered Windclan. No sooner than she did that, a tom walked out. He was black in white in color so for a moment Brokenheart thought about Swiftstorm.

'_Well he certainly is cute enough to be him but there's no way this is Swiftstorm! Hmm….Maybe, he would be the one I've been searching for.'_

The tom definitely had a strange fur pattern. His four paws were white along with his underbelly and the tip of his fluffy tail. The bottom half of his face was also white leaving the top look like a mask. A tuft of white fur covered his left eye and there was a white triangle that separated the mask into two parts. This white triangle was from the top of his head and came to a point at his nose. Two white dashes rested on either side of him. The rest of his fur was black. The tom's eyes were a bright amber color and they had a mischievous glow to them.

Brokenheart's breath caught in her throat, he was perfect! Just by looking at him, she could tell that he was, perhaps a Shadowclan cat or maybe Thunderclan. However he was slim like a Windclan cat. The tom walked away and towards Windclan camp near the heart of the moorland. Something about the way he walked, it reminded her of someone she knew back in the Dark Forest. In fact, he reminded her of what she heard someone call 'the cat with the fur pattern of a badger.' In fact, Brokenheart could vividly remember what had happened that day.

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><p>She was walking through the Dark Forest, tail lashing in anger when she noticed a new cat materializing in front of her. Sure, she had seen it many times in her lifetime- it meant a new cat was joining the ranks of the dead. But Brokenheart noticed a long gash in his throat where a cat's claw might've slashed. Whenever cats joined the Dark Forest, they kept the wound that killed them as a scar. He was a dark silver tom with gray eyes flecked with blue. In curiousity she asked him<p>

"_Who did this to you?"_

He turned to her with a look of contempt in his eyes. Brokenheart mentally noted to teach this new cat some manners latter._ "It's that cat with the fur pattern of a badger! He did this to me!"_

"_Who?" _Brokenheart questioned

The younger tom's eyes blanked out for a moment as if he was remembering something._ "He's called Aeolus….. at least I think he was called that. He yelled out something about his name before he attacked and killed me."_

"_Aeolus huh? Interesting name for a tom. Do you know of anyone here who might know more about him?"_

The dark silver tom thought a moment. _"Maybe- if Lie and Deceit are also here….."_

Her ears perked in amusement._ "They're here, I've seen them before. How do they know about this young tom?"_

He sighed._ "They trained him; little did they know that Aeolus would kill both of them."_

Brokenheart smirked faintly._ "He must be a strong cat if he can take down those two."_

"_Ha, that's what's funny- he's no bigger than a three and a half moon old kit!" _

"_What? That's impossible!" _Brokenheart shouted in disbelief. _"No cat could be that small yet be that strong!"_

The tom shrugged _"Tell that to him. All I know is from what Murder told me. He said that his amber eyes flashed red and suddenly- he was totally powerful. Killed both of them single pawed."_

Although she wouldn't admit it- Brokenheart was actually impressed by Aeolus's actions. Not everyone could overcome an age AND severe size disadvantage along with being outnumbered and win. Brokenheart turned to the dark silver tom and smirked. _"Since we're going to be in here together for eternity I might as well ask- what's your name?"_

"_Flint. Now- what's your name?"_

"_Brokenheart."_

"_Hm, why would a pretty she-cat like you be in here?" _Flint questioned

"_Trust me- it's better that you don't know the half of it. I killed a lot of cats in my lifetime- it's best not to annoy me."_

Brokenheart curtly nodded and started walking away from Flint and deeper into the woods. The further you went into the Dark Forest, the darker and creepier it got. The glowing mushrooms near the border with Starclan faded away till only darkness covered the path. Few cats could navigate this dim path. So many got lost that it was named 'Forbidden Path'. Only a few cats were allowed out on it and they mostly were Shadowclan warriors but occasionally- rouges and other clan cats could navigate it. Brokenheart herself was one of the few cats that passed through this path without a hint of uncertainty in her step.

Brokenheart followed the Forbidden Path till it widened out. What most cats didn't know was that there was a spot in this deeper forest where light existed. It was a rock as cold as ice that shined blue in the middle of a training spot unknown to most. That was where she was heading as she knew that the two toms Flint mentioned would be there. After walking for what seemed like forever, she saw the cold glow of the rock ahead. She bounded forward, eager to get some answers to her many questions. As soon as Brokenheart saw the two brothers she yelled out;

"LIE! DECIET!"

As they were in the middle of battle training, they suddenly stopped fighting. However in the progress, Lie fell on his younger brother, crushing him. Deceit squirmed a bit and yelled out;

"Holy Starclan! What have you been eating?"

"Are you calling me fat?" Lie growled angrily

"YES! Now kindly get off me!"

Brokenheart sighed in annoyance, noticing that her friend Scourge wasn't here today. Where exactly was he? He seemed to be disappearing a lot lately. She shook the thought away and refocused on the two toms in front of her. They had finally gotten back to their paws and were waiting to hear what she had to say. Brokenheart took in a deep breath and inquired

"_You know anything about a young tom that goes by the name of Aeolus?"_

The toms glanced at each other quickly. Deceit looked like he wanted to say something but thought against it. Lie let out a growl of annoyance.

"_Yeah, we know him. We trained him. I guess we should've known that a clan cat would be difficult to mold into a loyal rouge!"_

"_He was a clan cat?" _

"_No- but his parents were. Leaftail and Stonecaster- they reside in Starclan now. Our brother made sure of that one." _Lie stated with a smirk on his face. Before she could reply, he turned around and bounded off into the woods.

Brokenheart turned to Deceit hoping he would be more help. '_Can you shed some light on this situation?"_

"_I didn't want to say this in front of my brother knowing how he overreacts to everything. I always thought that Aeolus was our best student. He learned everything relatively quickly. He learned the best of our skills and knows how to use all of them effectively." _He lifted his head up to look Brokenheart in the eye _"What makes you ask?"_

Brokenheart knew that it was impossible to trick him into lie. He was named for his ability to trick others and considering that he had to deal with his brother every day… _"I'm just interested in how this cat, no bigger than a kit, could take down both you and your brother."_

"_Ah, I see. You aren't thinking about recruiting this cat to help with your revenge- are you?"_

"_I was planning to."_

Deceit frowned slightly _"He's a lot smarter than you think. He knows the difference between right and wrong- he would never agree to help you out."_

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><p>Brokenheart shook her head slightly, clearing the memory from her head. She smiled happily to herself, a very rare occurrence. Silently she padded after the tom, hoping to maybe see where he was heading to and why she never saw him earlier. After what were only a few heartbeats she saw him walk into Windclan camp, but not through the main entrance but through the side entrance where no one was watching. No one in camp noticed him as he slipped into the medicine cat den. Brokenheart was about to follow the tom in when she felt a presence next to her. She turned to face the other cat, shocked to see that it was another Dark Forest cat. He was a black tom slightly smaller then her with one white paw and ice blue eyes that seemed to be able to look right through you. He wore a collar studded with dog teeth and his claws were also enforced with these teeth.<p>

Brokenheart knew who he was, in fact they were friends. His name was Scourge. He looked at her with cold eyes.

"What are you doing outside of the Dark Forest Brokenheart?"

"I may ask you the same question. What are you doing here? You don't know anyone in Windclan!"

Scourge smirked. "That's where you're wrong. I do know someone here but I'll leave that up for you to guess. Anyways, why are you here?"

"I followed a tom here….."

"Why?"

"I thought that he could be useful to my revenge plan…."

Scourge gave her a sideways glance "Now which tom is the one you think could be part of your plan?"

Brokenheart waited till the black and white tom walked out of the medicine cat den and pointed with her tail. "That one."

Scourge raised an 'eyebrow' "Do you know who he is?"

Brokenheart shook her head. "No. Do you?"

"Of course I do."

"How?"

"He's my great-grandson."

Brokenheart's mouth fell open. That's when she realized it- he walked just like Scourge and she should've guessed by the way he held his head that he was Scourge's descendent. She blinked once and looked over the black and white tom carefully. "Who is he?"

"His warrior name is officially Typhoonmoon but he goes by Typhoon. He was once a rouge but his mother was Stonecaster and his father was Leaftail. He is part Windclan, part Riverclan and part Shadowclan though he inherits most of his traits from the Shadowclan and Windclan portion of his heritage though he does have some Bloodclan traits….. Before he came to Windclan at seven moons old after killing this tom named Flint he changed his name from Aeolus to Typhoon."

Brokenheart could've fainted right then and there. He was the tom that she had searched moons for and then he just presented himself to her like a present. What good luck it was that she found him. Now the only thing Brokenheart had left to do was to get Typhoon on her side. She was planning a thousand different scenarios in her head just so she would be prepared.

That night came quickly and soon her plan would come into play. All she had to do was manipulate his dream so that he would come to the Dark Forest instead of his normal dreams. It was quite simple actually; the hardest part would to convince him. Brokenheart was even prepared to go to extremes to get this tom to join her.

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><p>So when the time came, Brokenheart was able to overpower his original dream and bring him to her. The black and white warrior glared at her angrily and demanded<p>

"Who are you and why did you bring me here?"

"Wow you're anticlimactic." Brokenheart groaned. Most cats would've freaked out if they suddenly were in the Dark Forest. "Fine, fine. My name's Brokenheart."

"Never heard of you."

"I was a warrior long before the clans moved to the lakes. It's not surprising that you never heard of me before since you're so young."

Typhoon rolled his amber eyes in annoyance. "Whatever you brought me here for-get it over with so I can still meet up with Darkstar in the Starclan hunting grounds."

Brokenheart felt like she could scream, this tom really could figure out ways to annoy cats. "I need your help Typhoon."

"Oh great- you know my name. What makes you think that I would help someone like you?"

"You are really annoying!" Brokenheart shouted at him

"That's my specialty." He replied calmly.

She sighed "Kamikaze…."

Typhoon's ears perked up a little in interest. "How did you know about-"

"I know a lot about you, including all the names you've ever been called by…."

Typhoon sat down, his eyes locked onto Brokenheart. "All right, I'm listening."

"Simple, you help me take out my revenge."

"No."

"What did you just say?"

"I said no! I know what you want me to do- and I refuse to do it. I'm not killing innocent cats."

Brokenheart growled. "You leave me no choice then." She turned towards the deeper part of the forest and stated "Scourge, your assistance is needed."

"Huh? What does he have to do with this?"

"You'll see in a moment."

Scourge walked out from the shadows and walked up to Typhoon. He shook his head in disbelief

"You're going to wish that you would've gone the easy way….." Scourge stated, his blue eyes starting to glow. He padded closer to him and suddenly disappeared in a flash of white light. Typhoon instantly froze up, but it seemed like he wanted to move. The only movement was a slight twitching and that was just about it. In a few seconds, Scourge reappeared and a red aura flashed around the two toms.

Brokenheart tilted her head, did it work? Her question was answered a moment later when Typhoon's amber eyes started glowing red. Scourge smirked and walked over to Brokenheart.

"There we go, a nice loyal kitty just for you. What I'm giving you is complete control over my great-grandson, what you must do in return is promise me that he won't get hurt."

"I promise." She replied, although it was a lie. Scourge nodded and touched his nose to her forehead. She was overwhelmed by many memories, all of them not from her. It was soon over and Scourge backed away and stated.

"I have found his inner demon and brought it out; this is the only way he can be controlled with absolute authority. He will listen to you now as he used to listen to me but I gave that power to you."

Brokenheart turned to Typhoon and commanded "You will wake up and complete my first task for you. Your first task is to go to Shadowclan and kill the tom named Darkflash."

He just nodded and closed his eyes. He disappeared from her sight without comment and presumably went off to complete his first task. Brokenheart smiled "Very effective. What were you warning me about this?"

"You have to be careful, he can snap out of the trance as he has in the past. However, this happens when he's only around his clanmates. As soon as he walks away from them, you can regain control."

She smirked "Very good….."

"Just remember your promise."

"Yeah- about that… I'm going to kill him when his job is completed."

"What?" Scourge growled "Why?"

"So he can be here with me till the end of time….."

"Not if I can help it!" He snarled "_Four heroes will arise to face the hidden demon of the night. The hawk of thunder, the storm of sky, and the diamond of the wind will team up with the silence of the trees. Together they must save the fifth before it's too late."_

"What did you just do?"

"I sealed your fate. I sent that prophecy to all the medicine cats and soon- your plan will be foiled. They're going to save the clans from you- the hidden demon."

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><p><strong>Continued in Unspoken Shadows….<strong>

**Oh- Kamikaze is the Japanese word for Typhoon. It means Divine Wind. In the past- Japan was protected from the Mongolians by three typhoons and so they soon became known as Kamikaze. **

**Vermillion means redish-orange (amber=orange), this is Brokenheart's eye color. I think Vermillion just fits this story **

**And sorry for the failed ending, hope you enjoyed…..**


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